Christopher Sipe, MD

At our first meeting with Dr. Sipe, we were informed that my husband was "definitely not the problem." We were guided toward testing for unexplained infertility, and I shared that I felt I likely had PCOS. Dr. Sipe appeared skeptical of this. I cited concerns with weight, facial hair, hair loss, and cystic acne. He said that he was not concerned with my weight because I "fit in the chair I was sitting in" and that my skin was "beautiful." I again requested PCOS testing, he agreed. He left the room to get his nurses - my husband whispered, "I don't like that guy." I reassured him that he had many good reviews and one of our friends had worked with him. We should have gone with my husband's instinct. PCOS was the diagnosis, and it was the correct one. Unfortunately, my husband's male factor infertility was not identified. This would continue to go undetected throughout our time with FCI. We completed testing followed by three IUIs, which were unsuccessful (I was unsurprised). We… started IVF, the protocol was standard. I went to the egg retrieval and was placed in a room to wait. I could hear everything happening in the surgical suite next door which was, at minimum, uncomfortable. When it was my turn, I got into a physical position for the egg retrieval and the anesthesiologist said that he was going to give me something to relax me. As he prepared, a male nurse entered, pulled the drape up, exposing my naked lower half, and seemingly jammed what I assume was a speculum inside of me without a word. It was painful. I sat up and said "OW." That is the last thing I remember. Very disconcerting to wake up from surgery and wonder how my body was treated when I was asleep, considering how I was treated when I was awake and responsive. My husband had been told to wait at a park bench by the riverfront to collect me (due to COVID-19 protocols). A nurse walked me to a lobby area near the parking garage. "Where is your husband?" I told her he had been told to wait by the park benches. She told me to call and tell him to come and collect me near the elevators, and then she went back inside. I called my husband and, disoriented from anesthesia, explained to him where I was. I slumped against a wall and waited. When he found me, he asked, "Why did they leave you alone? They promised me you wouldn't be left alone." I still think that's a good question. On the day of my retrieval, we retrieved a number of eggs, in the double digits. We had a significant drop off for fertilization and development. I talked to a nurse who encouraged me to freeze any embryos and request another retrieval. She checked my insurance policy and said that my insurance would approve, and that this would maximize my chances for a live birth, and the possibility of additional children. I agreed, this was what I wanted. Dr. Sipe called me that evening. When I picked up the phone, he said, "I hear you're trying to change my plan." I explained what happened. He said that I was requesting fertility preservation, not treatment, and that we would not proceed with another retrieval without significant cost. This was confusing, but I was OK with it. I later reviewed his notes from this phone call, which said that I would be 33 when returning for my second child, which is "still young." Suffice it to say that I will in fact be 33 when I have my first child. Two days later we transferred our only embryo. It attached, but stopped developing, a chemical pregnancy. We were informed of this when a nurse called and said, "The good news is, your HCG is already almost back to zero. The bad news is, the pregnancy obviously isn't viable." I fail to see the "good news" in either statement. I went for a follow up blood draw, the phlebotomist told me how "depressing" her job was because she spent time with people who "can't have babies" all day while missing her little girl at home. We scheduled a follow up appointment with Dr. Sipe, and a nurse called us to order meds beforehand. We ordered the meds, and each took a half day off from work. Our appointment was then delayed by 2-3 weeks, we were told that Dr. Sipe had planned a vacation to Florida which overlapped with our scheduled appointment. We accepted the new appointment. We met with Dr. Sipe, he explained why my response had been less than ideal. I asked about the 15-18 pounds I gained in the days after my egg retrieval and cited concerns about OHSS. He told me that I likely got stressed out and "ate a little too much." I am not a dietitian, but I know that it is not possible to gain 15-18 pounds in four days through overeating. I asked about the number of embryos and dropoff, he told me my expectations were too high. He said that I was a person who wanted to control every aspect of the process and that he could tell what kind of patient I was from my "numerous phone calls and questions in conversations with staff," and that "people like that struggle with parenthood, which is another thing you can't control." If you are a fertility patient, I don't even need to say how this felt. We had already ordered medication and therefore were "in" for another round with this doctor. I went to my first appointment for bloodwork and ultrasound. The phlebotomist was, curiously, wearing sunglasses to protect herself against COVID. She missed my vein several times and said that it was difficult to see when wearing the sunglasses. No kidding. We proceeded with the second retrieval, it was a failed cycle due to poor response to the protocol and was converted to an IUI, also not successful. We scheduled another follow up for several weeks later, and each took a half day off from work. Someone called us and said that the appointment (which was two weeks away) needed to be canceled due to an emergency and they had rescheduled me for 3 weeks after the original appointment. I immediately canceled. Someone called u

Waste of our time being referred to Dr. Sipe. He does not care to dive deep into your issues and figure out the root cause of them. Jumps to conclusions very quickly and his bedside manner needs some serious overhaul. Dr. Sipe almost seems like he feels awkward having this adult conversation with you based on the constant jokes and sarcasm. Do additional research on fertility doctors before settling with him, you wont regret it! We are now pregnant with our 2nd because we found help elsewhere.

We are eternally grateful for Dr. Sipe for allowing us to have a family - thanks entirely to him we went from thinking we could not have any children to having 2 beautiful little girls, Julia & Anabel. He could not have been more professional, kind, helpful, and clearly incredibly skilled throughout our 4 year fertility journey. I would recommend Dr. Sipe to anybody looking to have the best possible experience with one of life's most difficult challenges of infertility. His expertise allowed us to 100% trust the process and his warm, wonderful personality made dealing with infertility 1,000 times better.

I can not say enough about our positive experience with Dr. Sipe and FCI. Dr. Sipe is a straight shooter and took the time needed to explain medical testing and the course of treatment he was recommending for us. Although Dr. Sipe was direct in his style, he also was encouraging, supportive, and compassionate about our personal situation. We had a successful IVF journey, but it took 3 failed IUI'S, a recommendation for surgery to remove an ovarian cyst and then 1 IVF cycle to get pregnant. Dr. Sipe and the nursing staff were incredibly kind, nurturing, and supportive every step of the way. It was clear to me that Dr. Sipe and his nursing staff treat every patient with individualized care and carefully monitor each and every blood test result to ensure the best possible outcome. I can not thank Dr. Sipe and his team enough for helping my husband and I get pregnant and allow us to have our beautiful daughter Kensi - they are truly miracle workers!

Dr Sipe was very friendly with me and with my son. I've seen other fertility doctors that actually got mad if I ever brought my son with me.

If you want to get pregnant go to Dr Sipe. Period.

Don't believe the positive reviews! Dr Sipe is the worst doctor I have encountered, he doesn't come across as very knowledgeable or smart. The impression I got is that he is more of a dilettante. Besides being rude and insensitive he also has very poor medical diagnostic. Pushing for expensive procedures, donor eggs, surrogacy etc. instead of simple, noninvasive and cheeper procedures. Dealing with infertility is already challenging, spare yourself one more negative experience and don't waste your time and energy and money on this idiot.

Dr. Sipe gave us our son our first time with IVF and our twins the next time out. He succeeded easily where others failed. He has an amazing bedside manner. I am amazed at some of these reviews. FCI allowed my husband to be involved in this process (other than the obvious) so that it wasn't so lonely and clinical. Great experience.

Let me preface by saying that I have HIGH standards for doctors - I have been to plenty and know that a good one is hard to come by. Anyone that has been through the IVF process, knows how stressful and overwhelming it is. You want to have a doctor that you feel like you can trust - the existance of your future child is at stake, after all! Dr. Sipe is definitely that doctor. My husband and I didn't really know what to expect going in to the process but Dr. Sipe was very straight-forward about everything from the beginning - as were his nurses. I'm young so we were worried I would have too high of a response to the stimulation meds and there were definitely days I called the nurses worried the cycle would be cancelled. The nurses (especially Sonia) were Godsends in reassuring me I was doing ok, and it was clear that Dr. Sipe was STRICTLY monitoring my levels. He tweaked my meds almost daily during the stimulation phase, which made me confident he was watching closely. We… transferred one high-quality embryo, froze three others, and I am now 13 weeks pregnant! My husband and I constantly say that if we had any other doctor (even from the same practice), we likely wouldn't be pregnant today. I know we have Dr. Sipe's strict monitoring to owe our pregnancy (and hopefully healthy baby) to! We will definitely be back to him in the future and I would refer anyone needing a fertility consult to him in a hearbeat.

Dr. Sipe was amazing. He took time to talk to us about all of our concerns, was very supportive when we had a traumatic outcome, and stuck with us until we were pregnant with two amazing little babies. We will go to him again if we ever feel like we can handle more than 2 little people, and we have recommended him to others.